BSNL to charge local rates for calls to Nepal for 3 days; Idea, Airtel follow the suit - Daily News & Analysis
A decision to cut call rates was taken following a meeting chaired by the Cabinet Secretary and with approval of Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
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Over 1400 people were killed after a powerful earthquake measuring 7.9 on Richter scale struck Nepal on Saturday flattening houses and buildings including the centuries-old Dharhara tower and triggering an avalanche on Mt Everest. Reuters
Telephone calls made on BSNL network to earthquake-hit Nepal for the next three days will attract only local call rates, the state-owned company said. The move is aimed at enabling Indians to connect with their near and dear ones in Nepal, which saw several hundreds dead following a massive earthquake on Satruday.
A decision to cut call rates was taken following a meeting chaired by the Cabinet Secretary and with approval of Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
"All calls that will be made from BSNL network will be charged at per local call rate for next three days," BSNL CMD Anupam Shrivastava told PTI.
The normal charge for a call to Nepal costs a consumer Rs 10/minute.
Over 1400 people were killed after a powerful earthquake measuring 7.9 on Richter scale struck Nepal on Saturday flattening houses and buildings including the centuries-old Dharhara tower and triggering an avalanche on Mt Everest.
Shrivastava said BSNL customers would be billed for calls made to Nepal as per the local call rates they had opted for themselves.
"People have opted for different kind of plans. Those who have opted for per second billing plan will be charged as per their plan and those who have opted for per minute calling will be charged on per minute basis. So, now they can make calls to Nepal for about one paisa per second or Re1/minute," Shrivastava said.
Telecom operator Idea Cellular will charge calls made to Nepal from its network equal to local call rates up to morning hours of Tuesday.
"In its efforts to support the disaster relief initiatives and enable people to reach out to their friends and family members in the earthquake impacted areas in Nepal, Idea Cellular has announced that all calls made from its network from anywhere in India to that country will be charged as per local rate," the company said in a late night statement.
The scheme has come in to effect starting midnight and will apply "upto the morning of the April 28th".
"Idea is facilitating all calls made to Nepal at just Re 1 per minute against the regular call rate of Rs 12 per minute," the company said.
The announcement from Idea follows decision by state-run telecom company's BSNL and MTNL to charge calls made to Nepal at local rates for three days.
Later, telecom major Bharti Airtel announced that it will not charge for any call made to Nepal for 48 hours starting Saturday night.
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